


We Could Accomplish Great Things Together

by NocturnalNautica (EarthGirl)



Series: Sparkling AU [2]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Time, M/M, Panic Attacks, Spark Sexual Interfacing, Sticky Sexual Interfacing, Transformer Sparklings, canonical destruction of a city, mentions of the Senate and the Functionist Council being awful to sparklings, nothing graphic though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-04 00:08:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14007831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EarthGirl/pseuds/NocturnalNautica
Summary: Upon receiving news of Zeta Prime's latest horrifying scheme, Megatron wishes there was a way he could talk civilly to Orion Pax and try to convince him to join forces against the real enemy.He did not expect his wish to be granted in the form of a group of orphaned sparklings in hiding from the government, but he'll take what he can get.





	1. Chapter 1

Megatron was fuming.

It had been a long time since he had received news that disturbed him that much. According to Soundwave’s latest report, they had severely underestimated the level of Zeta Prime’s technological advancements. His Decepticons were not ready to handle something like the vamparc ribbons. At most, there was a chance they might manage to rescue some of the populace of Nyon, but there was nothing to stop Zeta from simply turning his new weapon elsewhere. He must be stopped, Megatron must think of something, but at the moment his processor was too heated up with anger at his enemy's triumph for any rational thoughts to present themselves.

“Orion Pax” was the closest he could get to a solution. Even though they were technically enemies as well, he knew the young officer to be quite different from the other Autobots. Recent developments in their relationship notwithstanding, he still believed that deep down he and Orion wanted the same thing, and that working together they might, perhaps, achieve some results that were out of their individual reaches. But since Orion had taken to labeling him a terrorist, Megatron was having trouble imagining a way to successfully convince him to sit down for a rational chat.

His thoughts were interrupted by his communicator’s signal announcing a report he had been eagerly waiting for.

“Speak, Soundwave.”

“I have… Interesting news, my Lord. It seems that Orion Pax and his allies are maintaining a secret orphanage here in Nyon.”

It wasn’t often that Megatron was rendered speechless, but that did it.

“ _What_?” He asked after a moment, certain he had misheard at least part of that sentence.

“According to your orders, I was patrolling the streets of Nyon. Unfortunately, I have not heard anything that might be a clue as to when Zeta intends to attack. But about twenty minutes ago, I happened to overhear altered sparkling voices. It was only a common childish discussion over a toy, so I ignored it at first. But as it went on and no adult interfered, I grew worried and began to pay more attention, in case they needed help. That was when I heard a boy tell the others to be quiet, or they’d wake Bumblebee up.”

“Bumblebee?!?” Megatron sat down and pushed every other concern away from his mind. “You mean Orion’s _son_ is there?”

“He is. Apparently, this orphanage is where Pax first found him. The older children seem to be pretty responsible, so I suppose Pax leaves him here when all of his friends are busy on dangerous streets.”

That probably happened most of the time, reflected Megatron. He felt repulsed at the idea of entrusting a baby to other children that often, but a moment of thought changed his mind. Desperate times, which these definitely were, called for desperate measures. Should the Senate ever decide to keep Orion in check by targeting his son, an orphanage would probably be the last place where they’d think to look for a recently adopted child. And in there Bumblebee was in a familiar environment, surrounded by people he knew and who were probably up to the challenge of babysitting a smaller kid for a few hours a day. Some sparklings were surprisingly responsible and self-sufficient.

He should know.

“Have the children said anything about how often the Autobots check on them?” he asked Soundwave.

“No, Lord Megatron. They are refusing to talk to me. Two of them planned to take Bumblebee and run, before I informed them that I could hear their whispers.”

Megatron chuckled.

“Brave kids. How many of them are there?”

“Twenty, counting Bumblebee. And judging by the place's conditions, I'd guess an adult is coming here at least three times a day.”

“I see."

Megatron considered the situation. If Soundwave was having to make guesses, it meant he hadn't read the answer on the children's thoughts. Perhaps they did not know for certain when an adult would come by either. The uncertainty over that point made his decision clear.

"I am dispatching two Decepticons with vehicle alt-modes to your location. Zeta may attack at any moment, and the fact that the children are still there proves that Orion hasn’t heard about the vamparc ribbons. Try to explain to the sparklings that their home is in danger and we may not have time to wait for an Autobot to drop by to save them. Be as gentle as you can, and it goes without saying that you shouldn't hurt them, but bring them here by force if you can’t convince them to come freely. I will send word to Orion that they are with us.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Megatron turned the communicator off and groaned. It was true he had just been wishing for a way to attract Orion’s attention, and he could not have asked for a more efficient one, but… The truth was, sparklings had a way of making him feel awkward. He wasn’t exactly good at personal interactions, and children always seemed to aggravate the issue. Megatron almost never understood how sparklings thought, or what they wanted, and most of them tended to end up feeling afraid of him no matter what he did. Having been a quiet and lonely child himself, he found that his childhood memories did not provide him with any clues as to how to interact with kids.

Of course, he could simply leave the children in Soundwave’s care and refuse to see them until it was time to return them to Orion. But he felt it was his duty to attempt to give them a soothing speech. He had no idea if Orion spoke of him in front of them, but the oldest ones would at least have heard of the Decepticons and would be likely to have distorted ideas about what the purple badge meant. Their attempt to escape with Bumblebee indicated that they did.  And no matter how valid his reasons, Megatron _had_ given orders to rip them from their home. They were only children, he owed them an explanation.

He dispatched a messenger to Orion and returned to work, but kept his audio receptors focused on the door. The moment Soundwave announced his arrival, he dropped the maps of Nyon he'd been studying and went the room where the sparklings would be kept until Orion's came for them. It was best to get this over with as soon as possible.

Before he entered the room, however, Soundwave called him aside.

"Lord Megatron, there is something I didn't tell you before because I thought it better the children didn't know we know."

A wise move. They were probably already nervous enough without the knowledge that they had been taken by a mind reader.

"What is it?"

"Fifteen of them are outliers."

Ah. Interesting. Megatron supposed that meant the rumors about Senator Shockwave’s efforts regarding the safety of youngsters such as these must have been true, then, as must those about the Senator’s connections with Orion Pax. Nodding in acknowledgement of the information, he opened the door.

Upon seeing Megatron the younger sparklings hid behind the older ones, who stared at him with a mix of terror and defiance. He tried to smile, and prayed that it didn’t make him look even more frightening.

“Good afternoon,” he told them. “I came to assure you that everything is alright. Orion Pax has been informed of your location and will be here at any moment. No doubt he will be able to answer any questions you may have. For now, what you need to know is that your old house is in danger and that is why we brought you here, where it’s safe.”

The children remained stubbornly suspicious. The silence became uncomfortable, and Megatron was beginning to think he should just go away when one of the oldest boys gathered the courage to ask.

“Is this a trap? Are… Are you using us to catch Mr. Pax?”

Oh. So Orion _had_ told the sparklings about him. He wasn’t pleased to be used as a bedtime story monster, but it was nice to know his adversary considered him this relevant.

However, he really did not wish to scare the children more than he already had.

“No, you do not have to worry about anything like that. I bear Orion no ill will. I do need to talk to him before he takes you, but it’s about your own safety. There are things that he needs to know. Now rest. You should be leaving in a couple of hours, at most, and I trust that you can keep yourselves entertained for that long. Do you need food, or anything else?”

Some of them shook their heads in a negative, most stayed quiet. Realizing that was all the interaction he was going to get out of them, Megatron turned to leave. But to his surprise, a small voice stopped him.

“Sorry… Are you from Tarn? Sir?”

Megatron turned, surprised, and stared at his questioner. He was a bit large for his age, but still clearly one of the youngest members of the group, and his accent and altmode made the reason for his question clear.

“I am,” he replied. “And so are you. What are you doing here? You’re young to be this far from home.”

The boy’s optics offlined, as if in pain.

“The Func-tio-nists,” he said, pronouncing the word carefully. “They were angry at me because I can mess with machines that aren’t alive. Dad said they don’t like smart children.”

Rage flowed through Megatron’s circuits. ‘Dad’, the child had said. Singular. The sparkling’s father must have been yet another victim of the Senate’s abusive practice of using sentio metallico supplements to control desperate single parents and their unborn babies. The rest of the story was easy enough to guess. The government must have examined the child for the records of their program. Upon realizing he was an outlier, they had attempted to kill him before he was old enough to realize the power he had.

Gently, he kneeled in front of the child and softened his voice as much as he could.

“Senator Shockwave rescued you?”

The boy nodded.

“But he couldn’t rescue your dad?”

Tears came to the boy’s optics, and to the immense surprise of the other sparklings Megatron delicately dried them with his thumb.

“Listen to me.” His voice was still gentle, but he made it firm. “I’ll make them pay for what they did to your father, alright? Me and Orion, that’s what we both want, what we’re both fighting for. We’ll get rid of these evil people. We’ll make justice. And until we do, we’ll keep you safe from them. Do you believe me?”

The child’s optics came online again, and he nodded. Megatron gave him a small smile.

“What is your name, my young friend?”

The child tentatively smiled back.

“I’m Damus.”


	2. Chapter 2

Tires squealed, causing people to glance worriedly out of their windows to try to find out why someone would drive that recklessly. Upon recognizing the culprit as a police officer speeding towards Decepticon territory at a speed almost unheard of for his alt mode, most rushed back inside and hoped this didn’t signify incoming trouble.

From somewhere behind the truck causing all of this commotion, his friend Ironhide shouted.

“Slow down! Seriously, Orion, your tires will catch fire and you’ll be no good for the children then!”

Orion Pax ignored him. The mixture of fury and anxiety that had taken him over when he received Megatron’s message left space for nothing else in his processor, or, for that matter, his spark. Kidnapping children! He knew the Decepticons were getting worse by the day, but he had never expected that they would… That _he_ would…

But no matter. This ended today. This ended today, because after this latest episode he was going to _kill_ Megatron with his bare hands. He just hoped he wasn’t too late and that all the children were alright, because he would _never_ be able to forgive himself if his enemies had left the slightest scratch on even one of his charges.

After what had seemed like an eternity, he arrived at the address he’d been given. The Decepticon who was guarding the door made some quip as he let him in, but Orion didn’t hear it. Ignoring everything else, he headed straight to the main salon and shouted as he returned to his primary mode.

“ _Where are my children?!?_ ”

Megatron smiled at him.

“Ah, Orion, I’ve been waiting. Take a seat.”

“No games, Megatron. Where are the children?”

“They are safe and sound, don’t worry.” He turned to a guard. “Go get Bumblebee.”

Orion’s fury intensified.

“I’m not here just for my son,” he protested, advancing on Megatron’s throne. “I demand that you release all of them.”

“I will. But not before you listen to me on two very important topics.”

“I’m here to get my children to safety. Tell me where they are before I’m forced to invade the building looking for them.”

“You’d start violence on a building you know nothing about, except that there are children _somewhere_ in it?”

Orion hesitated. Before he could think of a response, a childish cry interrupted the scene.

“Daddy!”

The guard had returned, carrying Orion’s son. Relieved beyond words to see him, Orion ran to take him in his arms.

“Bee!” He held the child close for a moment, then examined him carefully. “Are you ok, sweetie?”

“Wanna go home,” he cried. Orion nodded and pressed his mouthplate against the little helm.

“We’ll go in a minute. Let me just get the others.”

“If I were you, I’d send Bumblebee home with one of your Autobots. The other children won’t go anywhere before we talk.”

The anger that had momentarily dimmed when he saw Bumblebee returned at full force, but Orion was not about to display it in front of his baby. Kissing Bumblebee again, he passed him to Ironhide.

“Take him home. Please. Bee, I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

Ironhide nodded and turned, but Megatron called before he had left.

“I hope that by ‘home’ you don’t mean the orphanage, or anywhere near Nyon. That place is in danger.”

Orion’s optics sparkled in anger.

“Is that a threat?”

Perhaps sensing that the argument would take a while, Ironhide ran out of the building with the baby. Megatron sighed.

“Is that what it’s come to, Orion? I rescue the children, return your son to you safe and sound, and you still insist on seeing me as the villain?”

“You’re a terrorist, Megatron. A murderer, a child kidnapper, and…”

“Will you listen to me for one second? I did not kidnap the children, I _rescued_ them. You need to online your optics, Pax. The Senate’s actions are becoming more abusive every second, the system you insist on supporting is the true terrorist, and the fact that you continue to deny it…”

“You kidnapped my children to tell me that Iacon is corrupt?!?” He exploded. “I knew that back when you were getting ener-jacked in slam.”

“Heh. Beneath all the anger and cynicism, Orion- you’re an idealist. You still believe the system can be changed from within.”

“ **You don’t know me, Megatron**! Bring me my children right now, or our little chat may get more heated.”

“It’d be a shame if things were to turn violent. But I believe we’ve established that you are in no position to start a fight, since you don’t know where the children are and wouldn’t want to risk accidentally hurting them.”

Orion retreated and Megatron laughed.

“Good. By the way, let me point out that the faster we get done with our conversation, the faster you’ll get the sparklings back. So why don’t we just get back on topic? I’ve watched you. I saw how you challenged the Senate’s authority- quoting from my **own** manifesto! I thought to myself, now here’s someone of vision, someone I can work with!”

Megatron’s legendary charisma was strong at work, but Orion was not to be mollified.

“You’re a criminal posing as a revolutionary, Megatron.”

“And you’re a revolutionary posing as a cop. As I said, we could accomplish great things together.”

Their discussion went on, as Orion’s frustration and fear for the children grew. What was Megatron trying to prove? Why couldn’t he get to the point, whatever it was?!?

That was the question he asked when Megatron finally produced the (admittedly troubling) video that seemed to be the reason why he’d called Orion there.

“You went through a lot of trouble to show me this,” said Orion. “Why? Why now?”

“Because Zeta possesses radical new weapons technology… And with it, he’ll kill everyone in Nyon. Including us.”

Oh no. He was not going to stand there and listen to far-fetched conspiracy theories while his children were being forcefully kept in an enemy base.

“You’re reaching, Megatron.”

The Decepticon’s voice raised emphatically.

“Am I? Let me connect the dots for you… Zeta set you up. He sent your team into Nyon knowing you’d be targeted by insurgents. Your deaths would have been a pretext to invade. Has none of that occurred to you?!?”

The words made Orion highly uncomfortable. Yes, of course the thought had crossed his mind, but… He’d dismissed it, convinced himself that the job was making him paranoid. Suffocating his thoughts when they strayed into dangerous territory was something he had been doing very often since… Since he’d accepted that Shadowplay really was irreversible, he supposed. Bumblebee had already lost one parent. He had to be careful.

But he could not ignore the recording Megatron had showed him, nor how much sense his words made. Growing hot with anger at his awkward position, he shouted.

“ **What do you want from me?!?!?”**

Megatron smiled.

“I want you to accept that your true enemy is the Autocracy you serve. I want you to help me bring it all **crashing down**!”

“Why? To replace it with a system ruled by sparkling kidnappers?”

Megatron sighed.

“Alright, I see that’s as far as we’ll get today. I’ll choose to believe I at least gave you something to think about, and treat that as an acceptable outcome for now. Now, for the second topic…”

“You and I have nothing to say to each other” interrupted Orion.

“Oh yes, we do. Orion, I want to adopt Damus.”

“What?!?!?”

“I understand your surprise. You may have heard that I’m usually not very good with kids. But I assure you I…”

“Save your speeches, you’re _not_ adopting one of my children!”

Megatron stood up from the throne and drew himself to the fullest of his intimidating height.

“That’s it? You despise me so much that you’d allow your prejudices against me to deprive a child of a potential home?”

Orion scoffed.

“Oh yes, what a wonderful home for a young child, to be entrusted to a…”

“A what? A _criminal_? Yes, Primus forbid the child grows up learning to question the sanctity of law."

“Drop the sarcasm, Megatron, you know exactly what I mean!”

“No, Pax, I do not. I’ll admit it, there are reasons why many people’s first instinct might be to judge me unfit to be a parent. But name _one_ of those reasons that wouldn’t apply to you as well. Do it, I’m waiting!”

“What?!?”

“You accused me of terrorism. If that label applies to me because there are people, because there are _children,_ out there on the street who are afraid of my next actions, than you’re a worse terrorist than I am.”

“How dare you…”

“What? Point out that innocent citizens hide in terror when you appear? ” Megatron laughed.  “You’re a wonderful protector for these children who ended up under your wing, no one is denying that. But do you ever think about the children whose guardians you took away? When you arrest people for petty crime, do you even think about their families? Do you realize that they may have children, and those children may be the reason why they were desperate enough to turn to crime in the first place? How many youngsters are overdosing on circuit boosters at the Dead End right now, as we speak, because you arrested their parents for insignificant, harmless offenses against your disgusting Autobot regime?!?”

Megatron’s words rang painfully truthful, making Orion feel almost as he had during his first read of _Towards Peace_. But Orion could reflect about thar later. For now, he saw the speech as an attempt to distract him and forced himself to remain resolute.

“Insulting me will get you nowhere, Megatron. And if you despise the law so much, why are you even asking me for permission to keep Damus? You already have him.”

Something dangerous gleamed on Megatron’s optics.

“Astute, Pax. But you’ve been answering that question yourself this entire conversation. If it was only for me, I couldn’t care less about your laws. But Damus wants to stay with me, and…”

“What?”

“I said Damus wants to stay. Did you assume I hadn't consulted him? Or worse, meant to force him?” For a second, Megatron seemed sad. Then his arrogance returned so quickly that Orion was sure he must have imagined it. “That is _precisely_ why I’m trying to do this legally. You keep calling me a kidnapper even though all I did was take them away from a risk area. If tomorrow this base is invaded by one of your more corrupt co-workers and they try to take my child from me, I want the safety of having a way to at least show the media that _they_ were the kidnappers, not me.”

That made Orion hesitate. Having Bumblebee taken from him because of the irregularities in the adoption process was one of his worst nightmares, and he fully understood and sympathized with any parent who shared that fear, but… Since when was _Megatron_ so parental?

“Megatron, where is all of this coming from? No offense, but... I never thought you’d be interested in adopting a child.”

“I wasn’t,” Megatron admitted. “Until I met Damus.”

“He was here for less than two hours.”

Megatron nodded, and his voice grew less confrontational.

“I know. But… I don’t know how to put this, Orion. But you have more experience in these matters than I do, so perhaps you’ll understand. I didn’t make a decision to make Damus my son. I spoke to him for a couple of minutes and I simply felt that he _is_ my son, that I’m _meant_ to be responsible for him. Usually, when I see an upset child my first reaction is to look for the parents, or for any adult better suited than me to handle the situation. But when it’s Damus, I _want_ to be the one who’s there for him. I want to raise him, to keep him safe, help him through challenges and see what he’ll become when he’s grown. And I don’t understand it, because usually my impulse is to get as far away from sparklings as I can before things get too awkward. I can’t explain this any better than to say that I feel that he is different because he somehow already is _my_ sparkling. Does… Does that make any sense?”

Orion’s optics widened, surprised. Yes, it made full sense, but it was the last answer he was expecting from Megatron. During that speech the terrifying Decepticon leader had disappeared, leaving in his place an open, honest, vulnerable man. Orion had never thought he might one day see Megatron in such a state, especially not in front of so many of his subordinates. The fact that he had been so careless with his commandeering image made Orion inclined to believe his sincerity. He took a moment to recover from the surprise, then spoke softly.

“It does. It makes full sense. If you release the other children right away, I’ll talk to Damus in particular about this. It’s the first step in an adoption process.”

“Very well,” replied Megatron, regaining some of his authoritative air. “Follow me.  Your Autobots stay here.”

They walked in silence for a moment, and stopped in front of a door. Upon opening it, Orion was immediately engulfed by a chorus of “Mr. Pax!” coming from the little creatures that ran to hug his legs. 

“Are you alright?” he asked, frenzied, as he tried to hug and examine all of the children at the same time. “Is anyone hurt?”

They all replied at once, but the gist of it was that they were unharmed. Sighing with relief, he gestured for them to calm down.

“Mr. Pax,” said Tailbreaker, the oldest boy, “is it true that we’ve lost another house?”

“Unfortunately, it is. Don’t worry, we’ll find you another place, alright? For now, Hound will take you to a temporary home.” He turned to Megatron, who was standing at the door. “Call someone to take them back to the main hall.”

“I’ll do it myself,” he replied with a smile. The kids threw Orion hesitant looks, and seemed surprised when he nodded.

“Damus, you stay here. We need to talk.”

“Told you!” The boy shouted at his friends, who, to Orion’s astonishment, made a line in front of him and began to say goodbye.

“What is happening? Why are you doing that?”

“Just in case he stays here,” said Trailbreaker, already following Megatron out of the room. Orion chose to not comment on that until he and Damus were left alone. Then he closed the door and gestured for the boy to sit in front of him.

“So it’s true, then? You and Megatron have discussed the possibility of him adopting you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And how do you feel about it, Damus?”

“I want to.”

“I noticed that. But why?”

“I want to have a father again.”

“I know, dear. But you know you don’t have to accept any parent who wants you, right? We’ve talked about this.”

The child nodded.

“So why Megatron?”

Damus thought for a moment.

“He likes me. He says he’ll keep me safe and teach me to protect myself.”

“We could teach you that.”

“But I _feel_ safe with him!” Protested Damus, his childish carelessness keeping him from realizing he was admitting he didn’t feel so with the Autobots. “He’s from Tarn. He _understands_.”

“Damus, just because he sounds like your father, it doesn’t mean he’ll be like him.”

“I know. Daddy was never angry.”

Orion startled, all of his worries returning.

“Megatron was angry with you?”

“No, he was really nice. He’s angry on the radio and the tv.”

Orion cursed under his mouthplate. He’d have to talk to the older children _again_ about being careful with what they watched and listened to while the younger ones were in the room.

“Have you seen many of his speeches?”

“A few.”

“Doesn’t it frighten you that he’s always so angry?”

“I was afraid the first time I heard him. Then Windcharger explained what he was saying. I think he’s only angry at bad people.”

“Even when the other people are in the wrong, there is such a thing as being _too_ angry. Remember that time Trailbreaker and Windcharger had a fight and Windcharger’s powers accidentally threw you against the wall?”

“Yeah…”

“That wasn’t nice, was it?”

“No.”

“Being too angry can cause you to hurt innocent people, or to go too far when arguing with the other person. Do you understand that, Damus?”

“Yes.” There was a pause. “So Megatron can’t adopt me ‘cause he’s too angry?”

“I’m still deciding on that,” admitted Orion. “Tell me how this adoption talk started. Whose idea was it?”

Damus talked. Apparently, Megatron had asked him for his life story after realizing he was from Tarn. When Damus told it, Megatron comforted him and took him on a tour of the base. Damus had a good time, and when they entered the last room, an office across the hall from Megatron’s own berthroom, Megatron had asked if Damus would like to be his son, and how would he like that office for a berthroom all of his own.

“And you said you’d like it?”

“Yes.”

“Wouldn’t you be bored living here? You’d be the only child on the building, you know.”

“Megatron says he’ll get me toys.”

“I’m sure he will. But wouldn’t you miss having other children around?”

“A bit,” said Damus. “But…”

“Go on,” whispered Orion, encouragingly.

“If I go back, I’ll miss Megatron more.”

Orion sighed and pressed a servo against his forehead. It wasn’t usual for Damus to want something this badly.  This was a difficult question to consider, but ultimately, it was his job to do what was best for the children, regardless of how he felt about it. And if Megatron was being sincere in his wish to care for the child…

“Damus, deciding whether or not to give a prospective adoptive parent a try is a very delicate question. There are a lot of adult things I need to discuss with Megatron before I make a decision, ok? I’m trying to do what is best for you.”

“I know.”

“Do you mind waiting here for a bit more while I talk to him?”

“No.”

Orion opened the door and found Megatron standing a few feet away, talking to Soundwave. Upon seeing them, he gestured for Soundwave to wait and gave Orion a nervous look.

“So?”

“So you’ve earned yourself an interview.”

Megatron smiled, and some weight seemed to be lifted from his massive shoulders.

“Thank you, Orion. Before we start, however, I have news as well. It seems I actually was overhasty when I brought the children here. Soundwave just returned from the Senate. There’s still at least a full day before we have to worry about the attack on Nyon.”

“Oh, good. That will give us more time to evacuate the population.” Orion hesitated. “Since the safety of the area is temporary, though, I should go to the old house to get the children’s documents and belongings as soon as possible.”

“That sounds like a smart plan.”

“Thank you. Would you like to accompany me?”

Megatron blinked, surprised.

“What? Why?”

“Because I predict the next few days will be extremely busy and we have no time to lose. Might as well have our conversation while we drive.”

“Oh, good point.” Megatron turned to the child. “Damus, I’m sorry. I’ll have to leave you alone for a while, and there’s nothing here yet that could interest a child, but…”

He was interrupted by Ravage, who ejected himself from Soundwave’s chest and walked towards the boy. Damus stared at him in fascination.

“Don’t worry, boss." Said Ravage. "I’ll be happy to babysit, if Damus has no objections.”

Clearly, the child had none. He happily followed Ravage down the corridor. Soundwave went off in the other direction, leaving Orion and Megatron alone. They walked in silence once more, until they were out of the building.

“So,” teased Megatron, “did Damus convince you I’m not a monster?”

“You both convinced me you care deeply about each other. But there are still a lot of questions I’ll need answered before I can consider allowing this adoption.”

“Ask away,” Megatron replied as he changed into tank mode. “I’m all yours.”


	3. Chapter 3

“There is a script for how these conversations should start,” said Orion, as he led Megatron towards the old orphanage house, “but in your case there is a particular question I’d like to address before we get to that.”

“Which is?”

“Damus said you’re going to teach him to defend himself. That is a concept that I thoroughly approve, of course. However, I worry about your definition of ‘defense.’ Do you intend to teach him to escalate situations rather than de-escalate them?”

“Sorry if this wounds your sensibilities, Orion, but I’m going to teach him to do whatever he has to do to survive.”

“Must you be like this?” Orion sighed. “Of course I have no objections to you teaching him how to fight to protect himself in a dangerous situation. It’s you teaching him _unnecessary_ violence I worry about.”

“I will not groom the child to be heir to an empire of gratuitous violence. Happy now?”

“Megatron, if you’re not going to take this seriously I can just…”

“No! Orion, I’m sorry.” There was an awkward pause, then Megatron lowered his voice. “Would you mind sticking to that standard script while we’re surrounded by a crowd? I’ll answer your first question to your satisfaction once we’re in a more private space.”

That… Was reasonable. 

“Very well. Then let me see… We covered your reasons for wanting to adopt, so I fear the next question is about your means to support the child.”

“You fear?” The tank asked in a playful tone. “In that case you know the answer. The Decepticon movement is surviving on a mixture of donations from sympathizers and energon we… appropriate.”

“That you steal.”

“Yes, so that our members can survive. Did you know that the only decepticons who’d had access to quality energon before joining were the ones who did heavy labor that drained away all the benefits they got from it?”

Orion chuckled.

“I know, Megatron. Calm down. For once, we’re in agreement. I’m sure our methods aren’t exactly the same, but you don’t think I’m feeding fifteen outlier children completely legally, do you?”

There was astonishment, then delighted laughter.

“I shouldn’t be surprised. Didn’t I say you were a revolutionary at spark?”

When Orion didn’t immediately reply Megatron proceeded, still in good humor.

“In this case, you can accept my word that Damus will remain very well fed under my care. In turn, I’ll pretend not to have noticed that you obviously skipped the part of the questioning in which you should confirm if he and I are close enough on the G.C.T. to allow for adoption, nor that you and Bumblebee most definitely aren’t. Next question?”

“Well, considering what I’ve seen your Decepticons recover from, I believe you have access to a good medic. So, really, the only thing left is to know what you intend to do about Damus’ academic education.”

“That is a tricky one,” Megatron admitted. “There aren’t other children around, and I wouldn’t risk sending him to a regular school. I intend to test him, or to maybe get his old tests from you, to have an idea of where he currently stands, and then personally design him a curriculum and find the materials he’ll need to cover it. I’ll see to it that either me or someone I trust gives him lectures and helps with homework as often as possible, but to be frank, he’ll have to self-teach quite a bit. I promise to give him the means to do that.”

“I appreciate your honesty. And don’t worry, outliers are used to self-teaching. I believe that will be it. And,” he added, taking a sudden turn, “we’re two blocks away from the old orphanage, so if you want to get started on answering my first question…”

“I… I’ll wait until we’re inside.”

Orion was intrigued, but respected his wishes. He waited until they were both in the living room, in primary mode, then took a seat at the couch and gestured for his companion to join him. Megatron hesitated and then sat on the very edge of the couch, as far from Orion as he could. Orion ignored the absurd little pang of disappointment in his spark and focused his thoughts on the topic at hand.

“So… What do you intend to teach him about violence?”

“That… Will require something of a long answer, I’m afraid.” Megatron was staring at the floor. His characteristic arrogance was gone, and there was something so fragile in his powerful voice that Orion found himself unable to look at him. Even just listening made him feel as if he was intruding on something deeply personal, and he had to remind himself that Megatron’s words were in fact directed at him.

“You have probably guessed a good part of my life story. It’s very similar to Damus’s and to many more in Tarn. My carrier was widowed in a mining accident before I was born. The government bought my existence with sentio supplements, and I was born their slave. Another mining accident took my carrier’s life when I was too young to remember him, and I was left to fend for myself. The Senate assigned me a daily quota of energon, but on those earlier days it was easily stolen from me by older children. That was when I started learning how to fight, and how to steal as well. I remember good people who occasionally shared their resources with me, even though they had so little, but I never bonded with any of them.”

Hearing Megatron speak so openly about his private life was so unexpected that Orion almost felt as if the moment was under some sort of fragile spell. Afraid of breaking it with the sound of his voice, he merely nodded. Megatron sighed before continuing, as if he needed to gather courage to say the next words.

“This situation lasted for the best part of a century. Then, shortly before I entered adolescence, a distant mine was closed and its personnel was redistributed. Three new men came to work in the mine where I lived, and among them was one…” He made a pause, then concluded the sentence in one breath “among them was one named Terminus.”

“He never adopted me, at least not officially. And I never felt the need to ask him to. No offense, but it would have meant a lot of time and energy spent on trying to satisfy rude bureaucrats who saw us as unworthy of their time. And it would have been just for a piece of paper. That was how we felt back then. No, there was no adoption. But Terminus took me under his wing, kept me safe while I grew up, encouraged my critical thinking and my writing, and taught me… He taught me so many things. It was thanks to many conversations with him that I was able to write Towards Peace at such a young age. My parents’ friends told me stories about them, and I cherish the little I know about them… But Terminus is the only father I can remember.”

Megatron paused again, and Orion felt the need to fill the silence.

“He sounds like a wonderful person,” he muttered.

“He was,” replied Megatron, and Orion felt his spark sink at the past tense.

“After a while, Terminus was transferred to Messantine. Somehow, I was allowed to go with him. I never knew how he did it, he said someone owed him a favor. Two years after I reached adulthood and started working,” Megatron continued, still pretending to be fascinated by the floor, “there was another accident. Terminus survived, but he lost his legs and badly damaged his fuel pump and spark casing. You know what would have happened next, had I done nothing.”

“Every member of the manual class is one accident away from redundancy, and redundancy is one step away from death,” quoted Orion. Megatron didn’t meet his gaze, but hearing his own words brought a small smile to his face.

“I kept him alive by sharing my energon, but…”

“You worked full mining shifts without proper feeding?” The impressed question burst from Orion’s lips before he could stop himself. For the first time in that conversation Megatron looked at him, and he was surprised by the pain he saw on the red optics.

“What else could I do?” Megatron asked helplessly, and for a second Orion felt as if he was meeting the author of Towards Peace for the first time. The violent Decepticon leader he was used to was a changed man, one he always had trouble associating with the words that had meant so much to him. But these memories, these painful memories of the harsh life in the mines, seemed to bring back the angry but kind person whose thoughts had changed Orion’s life so much. The shame at his own blindness, felt so intensely during his first read of the book, returned to him, as did some of his intense admiration for his companion.

“You are right, there was nothing to be done. How long did you manage to keep him safe?”

Megatron’s gaze went to a spot on the wall.

“Less than I had hoped, although more than I believe he expected. The accident… Changed Terminus. He had always been invested in my writing- in fact, he was both my proofreader and my distributor. You owe Towards Peace to him more than you can imagine.  And before the accident, my writing was enough for him. But as he sensed the approach of death, I believe he was taken by a very understandable desire to see some concrete change in his lifetime. His advice changed. Or, to be honest, I believe he simply started saying things he’d wanted to say all along, but had been afraid I wouldn’t be receptive to. He was right. I wasn’t.”

“What sort of things?” Orion asked gently. Deep in his mind, a small voice wondered why Megatron was telling him so much, and when the conversation would get back to Damus, but he ignored it. He was struggling between fascination for the tale he was hearing, pride in being someone who Megatron trusted with such private details, and dread of how the story was going to end.

“He encouraged me to keep writing, faster than ever, but he also said that words weren’t enough. He began to say that force would be needed to get rid of the Senate, that the true power might be in the masses, but that they would still need someone to rally behind, and… And he encouraged me to become that someone.

You may not believe me, Orion, but such a thing would never have come to my mind unprompted. I resisted the idea with all my might. At that point, being a leader was the furthest thing from my mind. But… It eventually started to seem as if no one would do it if I didn’t.”

“I understand.”

The promptness of the response startled Megatron. His glance briefly met Orion’s, and understanding seemed to pass between them. Neither of them wanted to be in the positions they were in. Neither of them would dream of leaving those positions without first fulfilling their respective goals.

“Did Terminus live to see you become a leader?” Orion prompted, softly.

He immediately regretted his question, for it had an unexpected effect that deeply shocked him. Megatron’s optics dimmed and seemed to lose focus. A strange whine came from his vocalizer, and his jaw trembled when he tried to speak.

“No. He… I…”

Megatron’s entire frame started shaking and his voice wavered, as if he was trying to force his vocalizer to work while it was trying to shut down. Orion was familiar enough with those symptoms. They were the beginning of a panic attack, and he found himself at a complete loss at what to do. It had been obvious from the start that the story was leading to Terminus’ death, so he couldn’t understand why approaching the point had triggered Megatron like that, when he had seemed so collected before. Unless, he thought with a startle, the poor man hadn’t died of his wounds or malnourishment after all, but of some horrifying punishment inflicted on him for helping to spread Towards Peace…

“It’s alright,” he whispered, cautiously moving a little closer to Megatron. “I understand, you don’t have to tell me the details…”

“I do! That’s… That’s the whole point of having even started this. I know what you think happened next, but you’re wrong, it’s…”

Megatron offlined his optics and stopped midsentence. Orion moved closer.

“It’s alright,” he repeated. “We have time. I’ll listen, if it’s that important, but you don’t have to tell me right away.”

Megatron nodded weakly, and Orion hesitated, looking around for a way to help.

“Would you like some energon?”

“No, thank you.”

“Can… Can I touch you?”

Megatron’s optics came online just barely enough to stare apprehensively at Orion, who immediately moved away from him.

“I won’t if you don’t want me to. The pressure helps sometimes, but not always, so...”

To his surprise, Megatron nodded and gestured for him to approach. Carefully, Orion sat down next to him, passed an arm around his shoulders, and pulled him into a comforting hug. It was a strange position to find himself in with a man about whom he’d had murderous thoughts earlier that day, but their relationship had never been exactly usual. So he just sat there in silence, trying to pass a comforting energy even though his own emotional state was now fully settled on dread of the story’s continuation.

Eventually, Megatron stopped shaking. “Thank you,” he whispered. He sounded embarrassed, but made no movement to pull away from Orion. After a moment, he proceeded.

“One day Terminus warned me that our supervisors suspected me. Five minutes later, while we were still talking, I… I was suddenly taken down by a strong electrical current. I woke up strapped to a Shadowplay table.”

Orion gasped, his optics widening. Well, _that_ fully explained the panic attack. He had never even come close to a Shadowplay table (he’d given orders to the full dismantling of as many “institutes” as they could find, but Prowl and Chromedome had insisted on doing the actual work), but just the thought of it and the knowledge of what it had done to Shockwave were enough to make his own vision begin to tremble, his own processor to begin…

No, focus. He couldn’t go to pieces while Megatorn was still shaken. Doing his best to try to ignore his own reactions, he suddenly focused on the fact that Megatron obviously had, somehow, escaped the process. How was that possible?!? He had never heard of anyone doing that!

“How did you escape?” he asked, hoping that the tremor in his voice wasn’t too noticeable.

“I was lucky,” Megatron was slightly shaking once again, optics barely online. “It was the day of the power surge. Rung let me go before he fled.”

Orion hesitated for a moment, then used his thumb to softly caress Megatron’s arm. Far from rejecting the touch, Megatron seemed to relax into it. After a moment, Orion spoke.

“I lost someone I loved to Shadowplay,” he said, “and I still have nightmares about it. What you went through while you were in there… Megatron, I can’t imagine it.”

“The Senator, of course,” muttered Megatron, onlining his optics again. “I should have warned you before, I’m s…”

“No, it’s alright! Although I admit I don’t understand why you told me, I believe you must have had a strong motive to do so. And… Let me say how impressed I am that you managed to tell such a traumatic story. I imagine how hard it must have been.”

“Thank you,” Megatron said, staring at the floor again, but seeming calmer. “You are right, I did have a motive. I needed to explain how come I was so far from home when the surge and the evacuation were announced, and… And I think that in order to make my point, I needed you to fully understand my emotional state at the time of the next development.

I ran back to the miners’ quarters as fast as I could, but as I was going on the opposite direction of an ocean of desperate people running for their lives, it was hard work and took a long time. And then, by the time I got home, I… I discovered that Terminus was missing.”

“Missing? You mean, someone else moved him?”

“I don’t know! I don’t understand what happened. Perhaps my kidnappers took him to use as a source of spare parts? My memories of that day are confusing, I don’t know for how long I was unconscious, or what could have happened during that time.

But when I got back to our quarters, I saw that they were empty. No one could give me any clues about Terminus’ whereabouts. The volumes I was working on were still on the floor, which makes me believe he wasn’t taken by enemies after all, but… I was his only friend. No one else would have bothered with him, but still he simply vanished without a clue.

And then…” his voice wavered a little bit again, and Orion increased the pressure of his arm around him. “Orion, I’m so ashamed, but I… I grabbed Towards Peace, and I left. I left him there to die.”

“I… Megatron, unless I’m missing something, there was nothing else you could do. The entire planet was on an emergency evacuation, wasn’t it? Terminus wouldn’t have wanted you to stay to die with him.”

“We were manual class!” Megatron shouted. “The last ones to be evacuated, ‘time permitting.’ I should have at least looked for him, I should…” he stopped, then started again, in a calmer tone. “The point is, Orion, I have sacrificed a family member once. It’s the biggest regret of my life, no matter how many times I tell myself that it was the logical thing to do. I had just gone through a horrifying experience and wasn’t thinking straight, there was no time to look for him, he would have wanted me and my book to survive, I know, I’ve told myself all of that, time and time again. But it doesn’t diminish the pain, and it’s an experience I’d rather not go through again. Terminus was old and wounded, there was nothing he could have done to save himself. But a child is different. So know that I meant what I said before. I don’t intend to raise Damus to be a particularly violent person. But it would be naïve to think that I’ll always be able to be there to protect him. So in order to keep him safe, I won’t hesitate to teach him every survival strategy I know, which includes some that you may find distasteful. And if you can’t accept that, I’m afraid we have another fight in our hands.”

Orion disentangled himself from Megatron and considered the topic. He didn’t like what Megatron had just said, but the entire story showed that there were indeed dangers to being a mining tank from Tarn that he was utterly ignorant of. Maybe that was why Damus felt safer with Megatron than with him?

“I also stand by my earlier points,” he said at last. “I have an intense respect for the Decepticon movement as it was in the beginning, but you have been resorting to terrorism and hurting innocent bystanders, which is unforgivable. But I understand you better after tonight’s conversation. I understand why the type of internal reform I defend feels so slow for you. I’m afraid we will never see eye to eye in many important topics. But if you promise me you’ll teach Damus that violence should only be used to defend oneself or one self’s friends, in cases of extreme necessity, and that it’s never ok to hurt someone who is not involved in the situation, I’ll permit the adoption.”

Megatron looked stunned. His gaze softened and he made a strange movement, as if he’d had the impulse to hug Orion, but thought better of it. Instead, he settled for grasping his arm in a friendly way.

“Thank you.”

“Not at all. It’s always a pleasure to find a good permanent home for any of the children. And… Megatron?”

“Yes?”

“Forgive me if I’m out of line, but I just want to say that… I didn’t know Terminus, but from what you told me of him, he would be extremely proud if he could see you today.”

Hope glimmered in the red optics for a moment, then disappeared as if Megatron didn’t believe that.

“He would,” Orion insisted. “He wanted you to take action and inspire people, and look at you. You’re the face of a movement for change. And even people like me, who strongly disagree with your recent methods, have been moved by your words. So many people tell me that they had their eyes opened and were inspired by my speech at the Senate, and most of that was just me quoting you. People from all over Cybertron and all over the G.C.T. are fighting for change, and so much of it is due to you. And none of that would have happened if you’d died in Messantine. I know you know that, but you dying at Messantine was what _they_ wanted to happen, and by saving yourself and your writing you denied them the satisfaction. So how could Terminus not be proud? I wish you’d abandon your recent actions, but the truth still is that the world would be a worse place without you, Megatron, and…”

He stopped abruptly when Megatron leaned forward, put a hand on the back of his head, and gently pulled their foreheads together. Orion’s optics offlined by instinct, and after a moment of surprise he smiled under his faceplate and delighted in the unexpected intimacy of the moment.

Then it was over, as suddenly as it had begun. Megatron let go of him and stood up awkwardly.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Orion, I shouldn’t have… I let myself be caught up in the moment, I… I should go…”

“Megatron, wait! Please. I’m not upset, I… I liked it. Can we talk about it? Please?”

Megatron nodded and returned to the couch, avoiding his gaze once again.

“You’re not like anyone else I have ever met,” he admitted, in a small voice. “You are so brilliant, brave, kind, and you’re always trying to do the right thing and to protect as many people as you can. What you did at the Senate… I couldn’t even dream of anyone else having the courage to do the same. There is so much that you do, that you _stand for_ , that I disagree with, but… You were trained by them, from birth. You’d never catch me admitting this in front of either my Decepticons or your Autobots, but you amaze me with how much of those messages drilled into you your entire life you’ve already managed to free yourself from. I never expected that from someone with your background. I keep hoping you’ll one day come to see things the same way I do, of course, but until then… Like I said, you may be posing as a cop, but you’re a revolutionary in your spark. And I… When I said I wanted you by my side, I didn’t mean it just for political reasons, but because I…I…” he let out an embarrassed laugh. “I’m terrible at this.”

“No,” Orion replied, standing up and facing him. “You’re not.”

He removed his faceplate and let it fall on the couch. The invitation couldn’t be more clear, and Megatron stared at him in breathless expectation.

“I think you’re wonderful at this,” Orion stated,  “as you are at almost everything you do.”

Megatron seemed fascinated by the movement of his revealed lips. As soon as they went quiet, he pulled Orion close once again and kissed him.

Orion gasped against his mouth.

He had only been with one other person before, and the difference was shocking. Shockwave was considerably older and more experienced than him. In intimacy he had been playful, teasing, and endlessly patient. With him every movement showcased his confidence, every expert caress caused shivers of pleasure, every touch was proof of his extensive knowledge of the cybertronian body and his willingness to employ all of his experience to please his partner as thoroughly as possible. 

Megatron was nothing like that.

Megatron kissed like a dying man clinging to a faint hope of salvation. His hesitant, tender touches showed that he was new to this and was trying to be careful, but he seemed unaware of his own strength, unaware of how tightly he was holding his partner.  He embraced Orion instinctively, kissing him roughly, with the abandon of someone who experienced a previously unknown pleasure for the first time and immediately lost himself in it. And it wasn’t unpleasant, far from it. Had his partner been anyone else, Orion believed he would simply have allowed himself to sink into the moment.

But this was Megatron. Powerful, enigmatic, _lonely_ Megatron, whose surprisingly strong reaction to a few compliments showcased how starved he must be for affection. Orion wanted to treat him carefully, to take his time showing Megatron how he felt about him, to take it slow so that the message had time to perfectly sink in…

He pulled away from the kiss, causing Megatron to make an involuntary needy noise.

“This was wonderful, sweetspark,” Orion whispered, and his spark tightened when he saw Megatron’s surprise at being addressed by a term of endearment. “I… I was wondering how far you want to take this.”

“As far as you’re willing,” Megatron replied, promptly. Orion nodded.

“In this case, my dear, can we proceed a bit slower?”

Panic flickered on Megatron’s gaze.

“Was I hurting you?”

“No! No, sweetspark, it’s not that! It’s just… There is something I’d like to show you.” He lifted his hand and placed his fingers half an inch from Megatron’s neck. “May I?”

Megatron nodded, nervous but determined. Orion closed the distance and caressed him slowly. Megatron leaned into the touch, his optics dimming and gradually offlining, and he moaned when Orion ran his fingers down the divisions on the cables.

From the neck he moved down to Megatron’s arms, particularly taking his time caressing the division between limb and cannon, enjoying how it made Megatron shiver. Orion pulled him into another kiss, softer this time, allowing them both to focus on the feeling of Orion’s hands making their way up Megatron’s sides and torso, gently feeling for transformation seams and teasing them to make his partner gasp and squirm deliciously against him.

Orion jumped when trembling servos unexpectedly began to play with his finials. Megatron was a fast learner, and soon they both felt the vibration of their interface panels preparing to be opened. Megatron pulled slightly away.

“Orion, I… I’ve never done this before.”

“It’s alright. We can stop if you want, now or at any time.”

“No! I want to continue, I just… Thought I should tell you.”

Orion pressed a tender, but quick kiss to his mouth.

“I’m honored. Here,” he added, lifting himself from the couch and taking Megatron’s hand. “We should probably take this to a more comfortable place.”

Megatron nodded and let himself be guided to Orion’s berthroom and lowered onto the berth. Orion climbed on top of him and immediately found himself being pulled down and held close to his partner’s frame. Megatron caressed down his back, slightly scratching the plating, and made him jump by firmly grasping his aft.

Although Megatron was trying to be careful and go slowly, his caresses were still a bit too possessive, a bit too forceful. His fingers always pressed a bit too hard when running over a seam, his kisses had a bit too much tongue. Not that Orion was complaining. It felt good, all of it, and he trusted Megatron to be aware enough of limits to not hurt him. But his spark ached with the idea that Megatron was acting like this because he knew no other way, because to him the idea of touch was so closely linked to confront and violence that he couldn’t fully remove them from even his sweetest physical expressions of affection.

That thought was a shame for various reasons, not the least of being how extremely receptive Megatron was to the gentler caresses that seemed so alien to him.

It wasn’t difficult to make Megatron come undone. The powerful dissident leader, the most feared gladiator in the planet, a man rumored to be able to survive torture without making a sound, turned out to be surprisingly sensitive to softer touches. Digits sneaking between the vents on his stomach, delicate nibbling on his neck cables, finials teasing at the tank tracks as they kissed, all of it caused Megatron to tremble and grasp more strongly at whichever part of Orion he could reach, moaning his name in desperate, but pleased tones, as he seemed to sink ever closer to complete surrender.

“Orion,” he muttered between kisses, his voice roar with desire. “Orion, I can’t… I need to open…”

“Of course, sweetspark,” Orion replied softly, pulling a bit apart. They allowed their interface panels to retract, then looked expectantly at each other and shared a nervous giggle.

“You alright?” Orion asked.

“Yes! I’m just… A bit nervous.”

“Tell you what,” Orion whispered against his audio receptor, “I won’t touch your valve in the beginning, alright? So there’s no risk of you tensing up and it hurting. I’ll be happy to ride that lovely spike all night long. Sounds good?”

Flustered beyond speech, Megatron nodded. Orion smiled and went back to sucking gently on his neck, then slowly made his way down the plating. Megatron’s fingers wrapped loosely around his finials and rewarded him with an involuntary slight squeeze every time Orion’s caresses reached a particular good spot.

Megatron’s entire frame thrust forward when Orion kissed a bit of plating usually covered by the interface panel. Orion smiled, looked into his optics, and allowed himself a moment to get lost into the intensity of the desire in that gaze.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes,” Megatron answered, his voice cracking a bit. He took a moment to recover, and then his expression suddenly grew determined. Throwing Orion the most provocative smile he’d ever seen, Megatron spread his legs wide open and nodded encouragingly.

Orion gently cupped the pressurized grey spike in his hand and took a moment to amuse himself by caressing it and playing with it in the same way Megatron had played with his finials.  Megatron thrashed under his touch, grasping the edges of the berth and moaning incoherently. His optics widened when Orion leaned in to kiss the top of his spike, then offlined when he took it in his mouth.

“O… Orion…” he gasped, as Orion began to suck and his glossa seemed to be everywhere. “I… I don’t think I can- AH- h-hold off too long….”

“Then don’t, sweetspark,” Orion replied, his hand carefully pumping the spike so that Megatron didn’t have a break while he talked.

“B.. ah, but you haven’t…”

“I will. We have time, dear. Don’t worry about me, this beginning is for you. Overload whenever you feel like it, alright?”

Megatron nodded and Orion returned his mouth to its previous activity. Whenever Megatron felt like it turned out to be a couple of minutes later. Orion lay by his side and held him through the shivers of afterglow. As he recovered, Megatron looked at him with a mixture of shyness and bliss that made Orion smile and give him a peck on the helm.

“How do you feel?”

Rather than answering verbally, Megatron pulled him into a kiss. Orion prepared himself for the passionate intensity he’d already come to expect from Megatron’s kisses, and was surprised when this one turned out to be slow and deliberate, somehow deeper and more meaningful than the previous ones. It lasted for a long time, and when at last they parted, Orion was the speechless one.

“I hope that was an appropriate answer,” said Megatron. “I was afraid you might be expecting a poem.”

“It seems you are extremely eloquent in several forms of communication.”

Megatron smiled as if he was feeling smug, but was too shy to show it too much. Orion took hold of his hand, and they laid there for a moment, just enjoying the proximity.

“I want to write you a poem,” Megatron confessed, without looking at him, “but it may have to wait at least until tomorrow. My processor seems to be running rather slowly at the moment.”

“A common side effect,” joked Orion. Megatron chuckled.

“Well, fortunately I have some ideas that would require far more from my body than they would from my processor.”

They kissed again, and Orion put his acquired knowledge of Megatron’s frame to good use. Megatron managed to be a bit gentler this time, and it wasn’t long before Orion felt his partner’s spike pressurize again against his thighs.

“Ready?” He whispered, beginning to straddle Megatron, but stopping upon seeing he looked alarmed.

“I am,” said Megatron, “but are you? Shouldn’t I… I mean, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t,” assured Orion, going back to a lying position in berth. “I am quite ready now, but if you want to check for yourself, I would certainly enjoy that too.”

Megatron’s fingers slid between his tights and hesitantly found his node. Orion took a moment to memorize the first movements (as they must be what worked for Megatron and he could make use of that knowledge later), then softly grabbed his partner’s hand and guided his fingers to move in the way that he preferred. It didn’t take long for Megatron to learn, so Orion let go of his hand and gave himself to the ever increasing pleasure. He moaned and grasped Megatron’s chassis, rather enjoying the smug expression that had appeared on his partner’s face. Lube flowed to his valve in response to arousal, and soon he whispered for Megatron that it was enough. Megatron nodded and his hand moved nervously to the area around the opening. He caressed the perimeter surrounding it, savoring the way Orion had begun to tremble, and then carefully inserted a finger. Too carefully. Orion protested the exceedingly teasing feeling of being (somewhat clumsily, but he’d rather not say that aloud) explored by a single digit, so Megatron carefully inserted another, and then, at Orion’s request, another, all the while shaking a bit from the novelty and from pride in how fast he was learning to make Orion come undone, as Orion had done for him.

“Ah.. ah, yes, like that,” Orion moaned encouragingly, “yes, good, AH. Ok, Megatron, that’s enough, sweetspark. I want… I want to be able to enjoy the next part.”

Megatron removed his fingers and Orion’s valve pulsated frustratingly at the emptiness, but it did not last long. Kissing Megatron once again, Orion straddled him and lowered himself on his spike. Megatron let out a startled cry, and Orion waited for him to adjust to the new feeling. Then, holding Megatron’s hands and staring intensely into his optics, he started to move at a careful pace, allowing their pleasure to build up slowly so that they had plenty of time to delight in the sensation and to memorize the effects that each thrust had on each other’s expression, the way their bodies moved together, the sounds they could draw out of each other.

Riding Megatron’s spike was delicious, but looking into his eyes as he did so was even better. So much was conveyed in those gazes, so much affection, so much love…

And then Megatron suddenly seemed to grow bashful again. Looking away for a moment, he whispered “Orion?”

“Yes?”

Once again there was no verbal answer.  Megatron just placed his hand on his own chassis, on top of his spark case. Orion’s eyes widened.

“Megatron, that… I’ve never done that either.”

“I shouldn’t have assumed, I’m so…”

“No! I… I want to.” He said without thinking, and was surprised to realize it was true. “I just thought I should tell you.”

Their gazes met and they smiled. The worry of the conversation had made Orion pause, but now he started moving his hips again. They both waited until they had picked up the pace, then anxiously opened their spark casings.

The room was instantly bathed in green light. Orion was entranced. He had seen the light of his own spark before, of course, but even though Megatron’s was fairly similar, it struck him as the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The intimacy of seeing someone else’s spark was almost overwhelming on its own. And when they moved so that their cores met… _Ah!_

It was bliss beyond any he had ever known. His sensations and impressions merged with Megatron’s, the differences between them fading away into an ocean of happiness, safety, warmth, _love_. He caressed and was caressed, his audio receptors picking up moans and pants amidst which there were nonsensical excerpts of loving declarations that he couldn’t quite tell if were coming from him or his partner. He was distantly aware that Megatron was still inside of him, that he was still moving over his spike, but that was just part of the pleasure that he was feeling now, a pleasure that built up to unprecedented levels, until at last he was knocked offline by a final peak of ecstasy.

His systems came back slowly, and he gradually became aware that he and Megatron were lying in an entangled, warm mess of limbs that felt cozy for the time being, but was bound to become uncomfortable if they continued like that. With a sigh of regret he pulled his valve away from his partner’s spike and rearranged himself to hold him on a more sensible position. Megatron whined when they separated and wrapped his arms tightly around Orion. Their optics met and, perhaps a bit absurdly considering what they had just done, they both felt shy. Megatron raised his hand and caressed Orion’s face, focusing on the part usually hidden by the faceplate.

“I love you,” he whispered. “I… I never thought I’d find someone I felt this way about, but… I do.”

“I love you too,” Orion replied, dimming his optics. They spent the next minutes kissing languidly, trying to ignore their growing awareness that they would soon have to part.

But, at last, Megatron pulled away with a sigh.

“I wish we could stay like this forever, but I think our respective friends may be starting to fear we killed each other.”

Orion laughed.

“True. But rest here a bit more. I have something for you.”

He left the room and returned a few minutes later holding two documents.

“Here. Read them to make sure I filled everything correctly, then sign them. This is yours, and this one is mine.”

Megatron’s optics widened. He carefully read the documents, signed them, and returned the indicated one to Orion.

“Is… Is that it?”

“That’s it,” said Orion, with a smile. “Congratulations, Megatron. You’re a father.”

Megatron’s gaze trembled and he took Orion’s hand.

“Thank you,” he muttered softly. “ _Thank you_.”

They kissed again, then Orion pulled Megatron out of the berth.

“Come here. You need to pack Damus’s stuff.”

“Of course. That’s what we came here to do, right?” They both laughed. “Do you want help packing the other children’s things, or…?”

“No, thank you. I’d love to spend more time with you, but Damus is probably anxious. You should go tell him the good news.”

“Of course. But won’t your friends worry about how long you’re taking?”

“I’ll give them a call and say we took a long time discussing Damus’s adoption. They won’t question that.” There was an awkward pause. “I want to tell them about us, but…”

“But there are things we should probably discuss among ourselves before we go around telling people, I understand. I won’t  tell anyone yet either.”

The weight of the real world was beginning to settle on them again, and suddenly Orion felt very tired.

“We should probably finish dealing with this vamparc ribbon crisis before focusing on anything else. Before I go home I’ll put in the word that people should start to evacuate the city, but there will be still a lot to do after that.”

“I’ll send Soundwave to do the same tonight. So, huh…” Megatron looked at the bag Orion had just closed, containing all of Damus’s few belongings, “is this everything?”

“And this. It’s all of his documentation.”

“Thank you.” Megatron stepped closer. “I can’t wait until Zeta has been dealt with and we can focus on more pleasant things.”

“Neither can I.”

They kissed a last time, and then Megatron left. Orion called headquarters to assure the Autobots he was safe and to ask if the children had recovered from their fright, and then found himself happily whistling as he finally set to packing their things.

He hadn’t really expected to find love again after losing Shockwave, and after recent events he _certainly_ hadn’t expected to find it in Megatron, despite the strong feelings he’d had for him since he first read Towards Peace. There was so much they would have to discuss if this relationship was to have any chance of working, and they would face so much resistance from everyone who knew them, but… Every single second of the past few hours gave him hope that they would succeed. Walking to the couch, he recovered his faceplate and put it back on. He wasn’t used to smiling so much without its cover. Although, he considered with yet another smile, if things went well he might soon have to grow used to it.

He couldn’t remember having ever felt this optimistic about the future.


	4. Chapter 4

Zeta Prime attacked before they were ready.

They had been working since daybreak to help Nyon citizens to evacuate the city and were making good progress, but there were still far too many people in the threatened area when the sky suddenly grew orange and Zeta Prime appeared in the distance, surrounded by Omega Destructors armed with their terrifying new technology.

“Dissidents of Nyon!” He started. “You’ve been branded traitors to the Autobot Regime! Now you and this wretched slum will be bled of Energon, so that **Cybertron** may thrive! Be not dismayed! Your rebel sparks shall serve the greater order! Your future – your Energon- shall live within **us**!”

Orion’s reaction was immediate.

“Autobots, roll out!”

“What?!? You’re leaving us?!?”, cried his main contact within Nyon, an adolescent boy named Slinger.

“No, my friend. We’re going to fight Zeta and try to dismantle the weapons. Hopefully we can buy you some time to complete the evacuation.”

“That’s impossible!”

“You need to try! We have no time to argue, I have to go!”

“Pax, wait!” The boy hesitated, then handed him a remote control. “I… A group of friends and I set up phase-chargers through the city a while ago. We’ve agreed that any death would be better than to be hit by the vamparc ribbons and serve as fuel to power Zeta. But… But now that the moment is near, I think that if it comes to it I won’t have the courage to press this button. So I want you to take it and promise me you’ll use it if you think it’s necessary.”

Orion’s optics widened.

“Slinger, that’s something that should be done by a local, I…”

“You just said we have no time to argue! Just take it, alright?”

And with that, the boy forced the remote into his hands and drove out. There was nothing that Orion could do but hide the remote, transform, and lead his officers’ attack on their Prime. As he drove, he answered a call on a private channel.

“Orion?!? Where are you?”

Orion answered in a low voice, so that the others couldn’t hear it.

“I’m downtown, dear. Currently leading an attack on Zeta. Where are you?!?”

“I’m on my way back to the city. I’d just finished driving some elders to a safe point when Zeta arrived. I gave my men orders to rally towards the Destructors.”

“I gave the same order. We’ll all be more useful buying the locals time now.”

“Agreed. I’ll meet you at the battlefield. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Orion’s spark tightened as they drove. If he was remembering it correctly, Megatron and his Decepticons were at a considerable distance and it would take a while for them to arrive. He and his Autobots were alone for the time being.

The first fifteen minutes of battle proved the situation was far worse than he had believed it to be. They fought hard, but found they were unable to leave even a scratch on Zeta’s Destructors. There was nothing else to do. Hating himself for it, he shouted the order:

“Fall back!” And then, on the private channel, “Megatron, get your men out of Nyon as fast as you can, and let me know when you’re safely outside.”

“But…”

“Zeta enhanced the Destructors, we haven’t been able to do them any damage. There is nothing we can do. I’m sorry.”

“… Alright.”

Being closer to the city’s frontier than they were, Megatron and the Decepticons got to safety before Orion. Once he and all the Autobots had reached safety, Orion returned to robot mode and got a hold of the remote Slinger had entrusted to him. Casting a last look at Nyon, he offlined his optics and pushed the button.

The Autobots jumped back, startled by the explosion.

“What have you done?!?” Cried Ironhide, who identified the source of the explosion before the others.

“I executed Slinger’s plan and possible last wish," Orion said bitterly. "I wish there’d been another way, but now I see that Megatron was right, Zeta set us all up. I had no choice.”

“That’s right! You don’t!” shouted a voice behind him. He turned to see Zeta raising from the debris and advancing towards them. Orion assumed a defensive position and prepared to punch his former leader, but it was an uneven fight. Zeta was still armed with a vamparc ribbon, and Orion was almost immediately struck by a strong current. He fell on the ground, unconscious.

His systems began to return, slowly, and the first thing he was able to register was Zeta’s voice, very far away, shouting “damn you!”

And then another, much closer and more welcome voice, shouting back.

“COWARD! This isn’t over, Zeta **! I’ll make a long career out of killing Primes!** ”

Then Megatron’s voice grew quieter.

“Gather these Autobots and bring them back to base.”

These Autobots? Were his officers injured as well?

The next thing Orion knew, Megatron was gently touching his face.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes. Did… Did you just rescue my officers and I?”

Megatron smiled smugly.

“You could say that, yes.”

“My hero,” Orion murmured playfully, right before offlining again.

* * *

 

 

Megatron spent most of the following hours wondering if he was dreaming. Of course, the Autobots had not been happy to wake up in a Decepticon base, nor had the Decepticons been exactly thrilled when Megatron locked himself in a room with Orion Pax to negotiate an alliance. But once they left the room and announced the two groups were now allied against Zeta Prime, there had been no revolt on either side. Perhaps, thought Megatron, if the two groups achieved victory over Prime together their old differences might begin to be forgotten, and their leaders might be free to admit their recent closeness was more than just political. Unused to things going so well, he caught himself constantly biting the inside of his mouth to prevent himself from smiling.

The only thing troubling him was the pain and guilt he saw in Orion’s optics every time Nyon was mentioned in conversation. That would have to be addressed. Patiently, Megatron waited until most members of both armies had gone to recharge, then touched Orion’s arm.

“Do you want to go discuss strategies?”

Orion nodded. They drove in silence, as it was starting to become a habit for them, to a deserted spot where chances were they wouldn’t be interrupted. Then they returned to primary mode and Megatron sat on the ground, gestured for Orion to join him, and pulled him into a hug.

“You did the right thing, my love.”

Orion sighed and leaned against Megatron's chassis.

“I’ve taken lives before, but only in extreme situations, while defending myself or my friends. I never thought the day would come in which I’d kill _innocents_. There were hundreds of people in that city, Megatron. I… I killed _children_ , I…”

“You saved them from a much more painful death. One that would empower their murderers to do the same to other children and innocent adults, at that. Weren’t you following a request from one of the boys who may have been there? Orion, if he was there he chose his own ending, and… And we need to trust that he knew his own people well enough to know what most of them would have chosen.  Had Tarn been the first target of the vamparc technology, I know I would have done the same. I… I’d have personally killed Terminus, if it need be, so that Zeta didn’t get him.” Megatron took hold of Orion’s right hand, the one that had pushed the button, and brought it to his lips. “Wouldn’t you have done the same for your friends?”

“I suppose…”

“Wouldn’t you have liked them to do the same for you?”

That finally made Orion relax a bit.

“I would. Thank you, dear, I needed to hear this.”

Orion gently pressed Megatron’s hand, then removed his faceplate. They leaned in, optics offlining…

“Megatron. Orion. **This** … I did not expect.”

Startled, they broke apart. Millennia of battle instincts kicked in, and on the next second they were both standing, facing their worst enemy with fierce gazes.

“But perhaps I should have,” Zeta continued, with a sneer. “What was it, Megatron? ‘Decepticons, protect the Autobots at all costs!’” He laughed, then shook his head in mock disappointment. “What a shame. You could have stood at my side as masters of this world, and perhaps have accomplished whatever romantic little dreams you had for a life together. But now, you’ll die at my hands and will be remembered only as terrorists.”

“LIBERATORS!” Shouted Megatron. Zeta’s sneer increased.

“Heh. You first, then.”

He pointed the vamparc cannon on his arm at Megatron, and shot. Screaming, Orion jumped to his lover’s defense. Using all of his strength, he managed to tear the cannon away from Zeta and throw it to the ground. Far from being intimidated, his former boss and mentor continued to sneer.

“Ah, Orion. You have some steel in you after all. What a waste.”

“With all due respect, Sir… **You’re boring me already**.”

They wrestled. Orion resisted as much as he could, but Zeta was stronger. In the end, Orion fell to the ground, screaming as his entire arm was ripped from his body.

“Officer Pax, your service is concluded.”

Zeta advanced, moving in for the kill, but their brief struggle had bought Megatron enough time to recover. Jumping on Zeta, he managed to move him away from Orion and land a few blows.

“Not so tough without your vamparc weapons, are you? At least Sentinel wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty…”

But Megatron’s celebration was premature. Without realizing it, he had thrown his opponent too close to the fallen cannon. Reaching, Zeta managed to recover it. Megatron ran, desperate, when he saw Zeta point it at Orion, but it was too late. Having learned from his previous mistake that shooting a vamparc ribbon directly at a person’s body wasn’t a good strategy in close combat, Prime instead shot the ground around Orion. A gigantic hole opened at once, swallowing Megatron’s beloved.

Megatron screamed, in shock. Then, for a split second, he saw blue digits clinging to the edge, and heard a voice calling him for help. For a split second, there was hope.

Then, out of the corner of his eye he saw Zeta speeding towards the Decepticon base, and his decision was clear. He immediately sent a radio alert to Soundwave, but he knew there would not be enough time to wake the entire base and either defend the place or evacuate it. The majority of the people who were a danger to Zeta were in that building. _Damus_ was in that building. Megatron could not allow Zeta to approach it with a vamparc weapon, no matter the cost.

No matter the cost.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, as he had on the day he left Terminus behind on Messantine. “I’m sorry.”

And he ran after Zeta.

Thirst for vengeance seemed to give him extra strength, so it only took him a few moments to reach and capture Zeta. In a rage, he repeatedly punched his nemesis, who just laughed at him.

“I knew those stupid speeches I’ve heard people make about ‘the power of love’ were nonsense.”

“Orion wouldn’t have wanted me to risk the base.”

“And the people of Nyon wouldn’t have wanted to become fuel for my weapons, isn’t that so? You keep telling yourself that about everyone you sacrifice, Megatron. You keep trying to convince yourself that you’re any different from me, but the truth is…”

“ENOUGH!”

Megatron pressed his fusion canon to Prime’s head and shot.

Quick as that, Zeta Prime was gone.

He was gone. That was it. The Senate still stood, but Zeta himself had greatly weakened it recently, and they would not be able to withstand an attack. There was no natural successor to the Primacy, and far too many Senators who would be eager to claim the title. They would fight among themselves, which would give Megatron more than enough time to act, to rise up, take power, and set Cybertron on the path it should have been following all of this time. The Autobot regime was as good as done. The era of the Decepticons was about to begin.  Three days before, Megatron would have defined the present situation as everything he had always wished for.

It was incredible how much could change in three days.

Optics unfocused, steps uncertain, Megatron ran back to the chasm in which his lover had fallen, hoping against hope that, despite his injuries, Orion would still be clinging to the edge.

But there was nothing there.

Trembling, the man who had just put an end to two million years of oppression fell to his knees and thought of nothing but what that victory had cost him.

* * *

 

 

Some of his systems came partially back online, and he attempted to survey his situation. His neural circuits were nearly fried, so he could not even feel the pain he knew he should be in. He had lost an arm, fallen who knew how deeply underground, his windows were shattered, and he was leaking energon from every wound. He knew he must be suffering heavy internal damage as well, but at the moment he lacked the capacity to run a damage report.

It was over. He didn’t understand how he had survived the fall, but in his present state death wouldn’t take long. His thoughts were too confused for him to feel sorrow for this, except where it concerned Bumblebee. His friends would take good care of his baby, he knew that, and did not worry for his safety. But what would the trauma of being orphaned _twice_ in such a short time do to the poor child?

Vaguely, he wondered if Megatron would attempt to do anything for Bumblebee. His memories of the last few minutes were confused, but he was nearly certain there had been a moment in which Megatron could have saved him, but had chosen to continue fighting Zeta instead. The thought hurt, but the pain was dulled, as was everything else he was feeling at that moment. Nothing seemed real to him in his present state. Nothing but… Wait. What was that?

Something was calling to him, pulling him, inciting him to move, insisting that his life was not over after all. He couldn’t understand what was happening, but somehow he felt that didn’t matter. All would be explained, someone seemed to be whispering to him, _all_ would soon be clear, if he only did as that elusive, undefinable pull told him. He began to crawl. The progress was slow, but in his body’s present condition it was astonishing that he could move at all.

He didn’t understand why he had to move, for whatever was calling seemed to be coming from _inside_ him. It propelled him to keep going, to make his way through whatever the ancient ruins he found himself in were, to not stop until he got to the source of the blinding light shining on the distance…

At long last (or had it only been a few minutes?) he crossed the last threshold and beheld his goal. The Matrix. The _true_ one. So this was where it had ended up. He should have been surprised, but it seemed completely natural for him to find it there. The Matrix floated in the middle of the room, beckoning him, and as he approached it he suddenly recognized the voice that had been guiding him from inside his own mind. Somehow it was _himself_ , but older and wiser, calling back to his broken young self across the vast gulf of time.

“Everything you’ve experienced…” said the voice, “everything you **are** … has led you to this moment. Now… Reach out your hand and take hold of the flame.”

He obeyed.

Pain seared through his every circuit. He was on fire, panicking, drowning in loneliness and loss….

And he was completely fine. That dreadful emotional storm, though real and overwhelming, did not truly belong to him. After the initial shock had passed, he realized he was feeling the emotions of every single cybertronian in existence, even… Yes, even those to whom Cybertron was only a distant legend, and who had lived their entire lives away from its troubles, in the colonies set long ago by the titans he had always supposed to be mythological. There, in that moment, with the Matrix-fire soaring through his circuits, he could clearly see that there were no differences between any of the groups in which cybertronians had divided themselves, that **all were one**.

And within that unit, pain, fear, and despair were the prevalent feelings; but he could also sense positivity, bravery **, hope**. The sparks transmitting those feelings were few, but they were bright, and he knew that if he could get all of them to work together they might spread their light throughout the darkness that had taken hold of their species.

It was all so clear now. The Senate and the Functionists had worked hard to artificially divide the society, and the Decepticons had fallen for that division, that greatest deception of all. And, being fair, so had the Autobots.

Megatron’s mistake had been to believe that cybertronian unity could only be achieved through severe control, when in truth their own nature was enough to unite them. And his own mistake had been to think that the problems in their society could be solved by the enforcement of corrupt, oppressive laws, when in truth… In truth, freedom is the right of **all sentient beings**. He had been fighting for the wrong cause. Forget the Senate and its crumbling laws. He must, they **all** must, fight instead for a better tomorrow, one in which everyone’s rights are protected and secure, in which everyone is free from fear and oppression.

And as the Matrix finished fixing- no, _purifying_ \- his systems, he came to a last epiphany. That much needed change would have to begin **within him**. He had a son, and no matter what his duties as a father would always come first. But those duties involved caring for _Bumblebee’s_ needs, wishes, safety, and growth. Those he could keep as his top priority with a clear conscience. As to his own desires, personal plans, and hopes, however… Those, he would have to lay down. Everything about his old life that did not pertain to his child was now irrelevant. His people needed him, and for them he would lay down everything, even his own identity.

Orion Pax was no more.

His name was Optimus Prime, and he had a planet to set free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the angst, everyone! 
> 
> This chapter concludes my take on Autocracy, so this fic is ending here, but the AU is just starting and I'm excited to get to the next part. If you read the series summary you know what's coming, and I hope you enjoyed the set-up. ^^ 
> 
> Thank you SO MUCH for your wonderful feedback. I was really nervous to start a project this long, and I don't think I'd have gotten this far without your encouragement. ^^


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